Archive for the ‘Oregon State’ Category

Hope everybody got a chance to watch the game last night. It was weird to watch a Pac-10 opener to start the season, on a Thursday night.

About the game, it was pretty damn evident that it was the first game of the season. Both teams were sloppy and unimpressive. We think it’s very important that we remember that it was the opening game for both teams. You can’t expect them to play like that the rest of the season. We think you’ll see significant improvement from both teams, especially Oregon State.

How werid was it that the two of the most prominent plays involved balls rolling out of the side of the endzone? The safety to put Stanford ahead for good, 22-20, and the fumble from Oregon State WR Darrell Catchings to seal the victory for the Cardinal. Catchings had no business trying to turn that into a TD. He had the first down and should have just got out of bounds. The Beavers still had a timeout remaining, would have been at the 3 yard line, and had Stanford on their heels.

We didn’t have time yesterday to post our pick for the game last night, but if you trust us, we won $1 from a buddy by taking Stanford +3.

Pullman, WA – New head coach Paul Wulff gave the Cougars a grade of C+ for their first week of efforts. While the players may not be picking up the new playbook as fast as the coaches would like, they are definitely getting the hitting part down pat. A little fire after the play is over, showing that a 10th-place prediction doesn’t mean much in the land of wheat.

Seattle, WA – The University of Washington may soon hire a new Athletic Director. All we can say is, it’s about damn time. Having been without a permanent hire since January, the Huskies need to find some stability in their athletic programs. They currently have a head football coach who knows less about his starting QB’s injury than the kid’s father. Or at least Scott Locker is willing to share the information with the media, while the tight-lipped Willingham prefers to play dumb. Also, moving over to the Sports Blogging Network in the next week or two is the UW Football Blog.

Eugene, OR – Big love for Oregon DB (what position does he really play? Safety? Rover? We don’t know, but want to.) Patrick Chung who Sporting News says might be the best defensive player in the country! It seems everybody in the conference is having QB problems, but Oregon’s QBs looked decent in their scrimmage Saturday. It’s only 19 more days until the hated Huskies arrive in Eugene.

Los Angeles, CA – With UCLA starter Ben Olson getting hurt and subsequently being out eight weeks, the QB race is suddenly wide open again. The coaches want to have a starter in place in exactly two weeks, so we’ll see who decides to take the reigns.

Tempe, AZ – The nomadic Ryan McFoy may have finally found his place on the field, as a linebacker. It has to be tough getting moved around like that, although forgetting your thigh pads will get you noticed.

Berekley, CA – After a week of practice and three days in pads, injuries at California are starting to add up. It’s good to hear that RB Jahvid Best is finally returning to full health, something that Cal will need if it wants to finish near the top of the conference.

Palo Alto, CA – With a new defensive coordinator, the Cardinal defense returns 11 players who made starts last season and hope to improve on last year’s ninth-worst Pac-10 defense. In recruiting news, Stanford has offered a scholarship to Joe Montana’s son. Nick Montana is currently a junior who is competing for the starting QB job at Oaks Christian High.

*We are going to be breaking down the Pac-10 schedule week-by-week to find out which game is the best every Saturday. By “best,” we mean which game you should stop what your doing, make a sandwich, grab a beer, and sit on your ass and watch for 3+ hours.

The Week 5 Slate:Colorado State at CaliforniaOregon at Washington StateUSC at Oregon State (Thur.)Stanford at WashingtonFresno State at UCLA

Week Five gives us two non-conference games and three hard-hittin’, pass-flyin’ Pac-10 battles. Colorado State goes to California and Fresno State to UCLA. Cal should win easily, possibly starting the season 4-0. Fresno State and Pat Hill continue their mantra “Anybody, Anywhere” as they take on another Pac-1o opponent. UCLA will have its’ hands full with the Bulldogs and don’t be surprised to see Rick Neuheisel lose this one.

Oregon tavels to Pullman to face the Cougs. Washington State doesn’t hate Oregon near as much as Washington does, but they still don’t really like each other. Last year the Ducks destroyed the Cougars in Eugene, but two years ago the Cougars had an oppurtunity to pull out the win at Martin Stadium.

Stanford at Washington. Possibly the Battle for the Basement. Both teams probably won’t be any good and with the game being on Sept. 27 chances are that it rains in Seattle. A wet, boring game for 9th place? It’s not the game of the week, but being football-crazy idiots we will be watching.

Who can forget the last time USC visited Oregon State? The upset of the mighty Trojans sent the Beaver fans and all of the Pac-10 into a tizzy. This time USC is looking for a little revenge and get an opportunity on a national televised game on Thursday night.

*We are going to be breaking down the Pac-10 schedule week-by-week to find out which game is the best every Saturday. By “best,” we mean which game you should stop what your doing, make a sandwich, grab a beer, and sit on your ass and watch for 3+ hours.

The Week 2 Slate:Toledo at ArizonaStanford at Arizona StateCalifornia at Washington StateUtah State at OregonOregon State at Penn StateBYU at Washington

Week Two gives us six games featuring Pac-10 teams: two conference games, two non-conference sleepers, and two intriguing match-ups.

The Golden Bears of California must travel to the golden wheat fields of Pullman to take on the Paul Wulff-led Cougars. After facing a Big 10 foe at home, Cal will win their first road test. Lowly Stanford takes a stroll down to the desert to face the Sun Devils. Stanford is playing their second consecutive conference game meaning they will be first to the bottom after they start out 0-2.

Utah State at Oregon should be a blowout, allowing the Ducks to heal up after their Week One battle with the hated Huskies. The Rockets of Toledo are in Tuscon to play Arizona. Talk about a winnable game. What happens if Mike Stoops some how drops this one?

That leaves us with BYU at Washington and Oregon State at Penn State. Many “experts” are calling for BYU to run the table and crash the BCS party. This is their first test since playing Northern Iowa isn’t much of a challenge. Washington does normally play well at home; they upset Boise State their last year. This should be a good game and definitely watchable, but not the best of the weekend.

Oregon State at Penn State is the best game for Week Two. Under Coach Mike Riley OSU has continually started slow, yet rebounded to finish strong. It was only two years ago that the Beavers upset then #3 USC at home. They finished strong last year beating Maryland in the Emerald Bowl.

Question: What’s been around longer, Stonehenge or Joe Paterno coaching Penn State? If you said Stonehenge you’d be wrong. Paterno will never leave the Nittany Lion sideline. In 2005 he led them to an Orange Bowl win over Florida State. They finished 9-4 last season and should field another bowl-bound team this season. Pac-10 vs. Big 10 is the best game of Week Two.

At the beginning of last season one of the strangest, and puzzling, stories was the one of Oregon State WR Sammie Stroughter. As 1,200+ yard receiver in 2006 big things were expected of Stroughter in 2007, yet depression overtook him after three close deaths.

We can’t imagine being raised without a dad, then watching the two father figures in your life pass away in the same year. We gotta believe that a situation like that would send anyone into a bad spiral. But the thing about this story is that it isn’t a sad one. This spring, Sammie Stroughter is back.

While this is great news for Stroughter, his family, and Oregon State; it’s bad news for the rest of the Pac-10. The guy is an athlete and danger on every play to take it to the house. We’re assuming he’ll be back returning punts as well, giving him even more opportunities each game to have an impact.